“Eat or Die” marks the first official full length by Future Orients. The album name does not come from any particular story or experience. Instead, “Eat or Die” simply comes from the band’s collective appreciation for the feelings associated with the phrase. On one hand, it reflects the basic trifles in everyday life, but also considers the gravity of life and death itself. The two ideas take into account questions of life’s most natural struggles, but with an ever present sense of irony.

The album’s neat and succinct nature puts the band member’s chemistry on full display. The nine songs serve as a reflection of the work from the band’s earliest days up until the moments just before recording. While “Running” comes from the earliest stages of the band’s history, “Haze” came to fruition right before their time in the studio. The difference in styles highlights the band’s unceasing growth and development and continuous drive to explore. Future Orients favors strong melodies and smooth progressions, but the music never becomes conventional. They instead find their own unexplored territory to straddle the edges of fierce and strange.

With their debut full length, Future Orients have created a youthful and genuine piece. So as for whether its really time to eat or time to die, this band couldn’t care less.